Surgery Nightmare - Greenbrae, CA

Doctor Review

Surgery Nightmare - Greenbrae, CA

On June 20th, Dr.Henry performed the following procedures: liposuction, fat transfer, and gluteal implants. I was told 6 weeks recovery but it ended up being closer to 11 weeks. The following is what went wrong:
At the 7 week marker I chose to get a second opinion from an outside surgeon to further understand why the incision that Dr.Henry had made, wouldn't close up.
Lab results along with the second opinion surgeon confirmed that I had an infection in the sutures (hence why it was having difficulty closing up). I was seeing Dr.Henry every week and she failed to notice due to negligence.
When I called to tell her that the surgeon had discovered the infection and removed the infected sutures Dr.Henry became irate. She told me that "I will lose my implants" and swiftly hung up on me.
Dr.Henry called the other surgeon to discuss my case. The other surgeon told me that Dr. Henry had called him and that the nature of their conversation was very nasty, with Dr.Henry hanging up the phone on him. I was surprised that a conversation even ensued because neither of them had my permission to discuss my case. I did not provide Dr.Henry with the name of my surgeon so how she found out his name and number is beyond me and a breach of patient confidentiality rights.
On August 17th I wrote a review on another website regarding my encounter with Dr. Henry. Dr. Henry called me and gave me an ultimatum over the phone: "Remove the review or I won't see you anymore."
The next day I called asking for my medical records so that I could give them to the new surgeon for further review. Her receptionist told me she would send them over but asked that I sign a release form first. I signed and emailed it later that day.
Over the next week, I called Dr.Henry's office every day asking if they could please email or mail my records over night (which I offered to pay for). The staff kept saying they would but nothing ever happened. It wasn't until I called her office about a week 1/2 later telling her receptionist that by law I had a right to obtain my records within 5 days of the signed release form and that they were already in violation of that five day window. Three days later in the mail my records came.
There were several discrepancies in my medical record about the appointment times and dates, the nature of my visits, and my age. Through out the record Dr. Henry made several character attacks and tried to frame my complications on me for "failure to follow directions." I had an overall team of four care givers helping me follow the directions to ensure not one step was missed. My complication was a direct result of infected sutures. Due to the inconsistencies in the med records, Dr.Henry and her staff further debilitated my recovery.
Since working with the new surgeon and another surgeon I brought on board, I have had success in getting the wound to successfully close.
I went into the procedure 5ft 9in, 130lbs, by the time I recovered my weight had dropped down to 101 lbs. Dr.Henry did not express any concern for my rapid weight loss (which she witnessed over 7 weeks post surgery) or dehydration issues (where I had to hire an independent IV company to administer fluids).
The results were less than pleasing. I went into the procedure hoping to correct my cheeks from being uneven (one was slightly bigger). The surgery only magnified the flaw making it much more prominent, left an indentation in one of the cheeks that wasn't present beforehand and a misaligned tailbone. Both of my new surgeons told me that going into the consultation Dr.Henry should've told me that my expectations were unrealistic and that I was not an ideal candidate for this particular procedure.
I would encourage anyone who is considering plastic surgery to thoroughly research their doctor. Had I spent more time doing my homework, I would've realized that Dr.Henry was not the appropriate surgeon for me.
This surgery has left me feeling scammed and terrified of going under the knife again.